[Dixielandjazz] Benny & Artie was Joe Tarto

[Steve barbone]

J. D. Bryce brycejo at comcast.net wrote (polite snip)

>According to Joe, Toscanini was talking about the alto sax part, which was
>to have been played by a young Benjamin Goodman, doubling from clarinet.
>Toscanini said, (and Joe did an impeccable Italian accent for this
>recounting), "Benjamino, when you play the clarinet, is like (he kisses his
>fingers).  But when you play the sax, is like a dog die.  Give the part to
>Arturo.  He was referring to another clarinetist, who was better on alto
>sax.....Artie Shaw.

>I don't know whether the story is true, but that's what Joe told me.

Hi Jack & List mates:

Shaw remembers that incident as follows, unable to remember which band it
was (CBS, or Park Central Hotel, or ?). He did remember the conductor as
David Raskin, however. It happened not long after Shaw got his 802 card
after the mandatory waiting period. He joined Goodman in a lot of bands then
and was concentrating on playing lead Alto in the sax section.

As most reed players know, the second alto has the jazz part and the first
alto plays lead. In this orchestra, Shaw was first Alto and Goodman second
alto. Shaw had developed a brighter sound on Alto then Goodman, better for
radio broadcasts. Done because of the high volume of live broadcast work.
The arrangement was Rodgers & Hart's Lover.

It had a neat counter melody line written into the first alto part. Goodman
asked Shaw if he could play it. Shaw agreed and in rehearsal they switched
parts.  After the first run through Raskin asked: "Who is playing the alto
counter melody?" Goodman raised his hand. Raskin said "Give it to Shaw".

Conductor David Raskin, as many probably know, was also a fine clarinet/sax
player as well as the composer of Laura.

Cheers,
Steve